Is Ho-oh Good in Ruby & Sapphire Playthrough?
Not native to Hoenn. Trade from Colosseum. AbilityPressure for PP drain. Ho-Oh's offensive power is enormous and Fire/Flying handles Sidney, Glacia, and Steven's Skarmory. Import-only but devastating if you get one in.
Ho-oh trades roughly evenly with Roxanne's team.
Ho-oh resists most of Brawly's coverage and hits back hard.
Ho-oh has the type edge here and should clean up Wattson's team.
Ho-oh has the type edge here and should clean up Flannery's team.
Ho-oh has the type edge here and should clean up Norman's team.
Ho-oh has the type edge here and should clean up Winona's team.
Ho-oh trades roughly evenly with Tate & Liza's team.
Ho-oh has the type edge here and should clean up Wallace's team.
Ho-oh has the type edge here and should clean up Sidney's team.
Ho-oh has the type edge here and should clean up Phoebe's team.
Ho-oh resists most of Glacia's coverage and hits back hard.
Ho-oh trades roughly evenly with Drake's team.
Ho-oh has the type edge here and should clean up Steven's team.
How to Get Ho-oh in Ruby & Sapphire
No wild encounters for Ho-oh in Ruby & Sapphire. It's available in Gold & Silver, Crystal, or Ultra Sun & Ultra Moon and can be transferred over. The details below show where to find it.
Ho-oh cannot be caught in the wild in Ruby & Sapphire, but you can still get it via these paths:
Obtain and trade from these games:
Then trade to Ruby & Sapphire.
Also Obtainable In:
Pokemon transfers only go forward through generations, never backward. Direct cross-gen trades aren't supported.
Ho-oh Weakness
Type-wise, Ho Oh takes extra damage from Rock, Water, and Electric. Watch out for Rock attacks, those deal 4x damage. Ground moves do nothing thanks to a full immunity. 5 resistances help offset the weaknesses. Ho Oh's special bulk (base 154 Sp.Def) helps absorb special-type weaknesses, though physical moves exploit the lower Defense.
| Damage | Types |
|---|---|
| 4x (Critical) | Rock |
| 2x (Weak) | Water, Electric |
| 0.5x (Resist) | Fire, Fighting, Steel |
| 0.25x (Resist) | Grass, Bug |
| 0x (Immune) | Ground |
- Dark and Steel types added — Fairy does not exist yet
- Moves are Physical or Special based on type, not per move
What is Ho Oh Weak Against
GoodBest Pokemon Against Ho-oh
 Mudkip Water | C | |
Obtain MethodRoute 101 Gift Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Ho Oh View Mudkip builds →Surf 2x33-39% Rock Tomb 4x44-52% | ||
 Wingull Water | C | |
Obtain MethodEvergrande City Surfing | ||
 Surskit BugWater | D | |
Obtain MethodRoute 102 Surfing | ||
 Anorith RockBug | C | |
Obtain MethodRustboro City Gift Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Ho Oh View Anorith builds →Rock Tomb 4x75-89% Water Gun 2x9-11% | ||
 Minun Electric | C | |
 Plusle Electric | C | |
 Geodude RockGround | C | |
 Marshtomp WaterGround | C | |
Obtain MethodEvolve Mudkip (Route 101 Gift) Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Ho Oh View Marshtomp builds →Surf 2x32-38% Rock Tomb 4x45-55% | ||
 Regirock Rock | B | |
Obtain MethodRoute 111 Interact Encounter Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Ho Oh View Regirock builds →Ancient Power 4x86-102%KO Thunderbolt 2x17-20% | ||
 Armaldo RockBug | B | |
Obtain MethodEvolve Anorith (Rustboro City Gift) Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Ho Oh View Armaldo builds →Ancient Power 4x104-122%KO Water Gun 2x10-12% | ||
 Manectric Electric | C | |
 Magneton ElectricSteel | A | |
 Swampert WaterGround | S | |
Obtain MethodEvolve Mudkip (Route 101 Gift) Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Ho Oh View Swampert builds →Surf 2x38-45% Rock Tomb 4x53-63% | ||
Regirock Rock | B | |
Obtain MethodRoute 111 Interact Encounter Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Ho Oh View Regirock builds →Ancient Power 4x84-99% Thunderbolt 2x17-20% | ||
Armaldo RockBug | B | |
Obtain MethodEvolve Anorith (Rustboro City Gift) Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Ho Oh View Armaldo builds →Ancient Power 4x104-122%KO Water Pulse 2x14-17% | ||
Manectric Electric | C | |
Magneton ElectricSteel | A | |
Swampert WaterGround | S | |
Obtain MethodEvolve Mudkip (Route 101 Gift) Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Ho Oh View Swampert builds →Surf 2x37-44% Rock Tomb 4x52-61% | ||
Regirock Rock | B | |
Obtain MethodRoute 111 Interact Encounter Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Ho Oh View Regirock builds →Ancient Power 4x84-98% Thunderbolt 2x16-19% | ||
Armaldo RockBug | B | |
Obtain MethodEvolve Anorith (Rustboro City Gift) Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Ho Oh View Armaldo builds →Ancient Power 4x100-118%KO Water Pulse 2x14-16% | ||
 Rhydon GroundRock | B | |
Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Ho Oh View Rhydon builds →Rock Tomb 4x88-103%KO Thunderbolt 2x15-18% Surf 2x15-18% | ||
 Walrein IceWater | C | |
Obtain MethodEvolve Spheal (Shoal Cave Surfing) Available Moves Moves
Damage vs Ho Oh View Walrein builds →Surf 2x40-47% Rock Tomb 4x39-46% | ||
 Cradily RockGrass | C | |
Obtain MethodEvolve Lileep (Rustboro City Gift) | ||
In Ruby & Sapphire, Metagross can KO Ho Oh with Explosion (95-112%). Forretress deals 51-60% with Explosion.
S | ||
Recommended Build AbilityClearbody ItemLeftovers NatureAdamant Moves
Damage vs Ho Oh View Metagross builds →Explosion95-112%KO | ||
A | ||
Recommended Build AbilityKeeneye ItemLeftovers NatureCareful Moves View Skarmory builds →
| ||
B | ||
Recommended Build AbilitySturdy ItemLeftovers NatureCareful Moves
Damage vs Ho Oh View Forretress builds →Rapid Spin10-12% Explosion51-60% | ||
B | ||
Recommended Build AbilityPressure ItemLeftovers NatureCalm Moves
Damage vs Ho Oh View Dusclops builds →Shadow Ball12-14% | ||
B | ||
Recommended Build AbilityShadowtag ItemLum Berry NatureCareful Moves View Wobbuffet builds →
| ||
Ho-oh Evolutions
No breeding, no evolution. Ho Oh is a Fire/Flying legendary with 680 base stat total that you obtain once and build around. View every chain in the Evolution Chart.
How to Evolve
Breeding
RS Ho-oh Best Moveset
MoveSacred Fire carries a 50% burn chance, crippling physical attackers on contact. 130 Attack and 110 Sp. Atk hit hard from both sides while AbilityPressure stalls PP. MoveRecover sustains and MoveEarthquake handles Rock types. Held ItemLeftovers adds recovery. Offensive legendary with built-in burn disruption.
Best Build
Ho-oh best EVs are Sp. Atk and Speed
Support Moveset
- Sacred Fire
- Recover
- Shadow Ball
- Toxic
Recommended Teammates
Moves List
TMs carry this one. Ho Oh learns Overheat and Fire Blast naturally for STAB, but the offensive range comes almost entirely from technical machines. Normal and Rock and beyond give it real matchup play.
How to Read the Moves Table
Tabs
- Level-Up
- Learned by leveling up.
- TM
- Taught by a Technical Machine.
- Egg
- Inherited via breeding.
- Tutor
- NPC tutor (cost: items, BP, money).
- Reminder
- An NPC reteaches any move this Pokemon could have learned by leveling up.
- Transfer
- Carried over from an older game using Pokemon HOME.
- Event
- Given out through Mystery Gift events.
Visual Signals
CAT (Category)
How the move deals damage and which stats it uses.
A small dot on the icon's corner marks the move as contact. That triggers abilities like Static, Flame Body, Rough Skin, or Iron Barbs, plus items like Rocky Helmet and Sticky Barb.
Tier (S to D)
Each move's competitive rank in RankedBoost's system. TM, Egg, and Tutor sort by tier by default (best first). On Level-Up, click the Tier header to do the same.
PWR (Power)
Base damage. Numbers shown in a type color include STAB (base × 1.5). Hover any colored number to see the math.
— means no power (status moves) or variable power.
Sorting & Filter
Click any column header to sort. Level-Up opens with Lv 1 at the top. TM, Egg, and Tutor open with the highest-tier moves at the top.
Search filters by move name or type. The Filter button limits the list to STAB, Physical, Special, or Status moves.
Level-Up Moves
TM Moves
Egg Moves
Tutor Moves
Base Stats
HO-OH’s feathers glow in seven colors depending on the angle at which they are struck by light. These feathers are said to bring happiness to the bearers. This POKéMON is said to live at the foot of a rainbow.
Ho-oh Ruby & Sapphire Guide
In Ruby & Sapphire, Ho-oh is a Legendary Pokemon rated S-Tier. At 680 BST, it hits hard. It excels as a wall. Sacredfire with Leftovers is the standard set.
In Ruby & Sapphire, Ho-oh's biggest threats include Aerodactyl (Rock), Gyarados (Water), and Raikou (Electric), all carrying super-effective STAB moves. Aerodactyl is the most dangerous since Rock moves deal 4x damage. Ho-oh has enough bulk to absorb a hit, but don't push the matchup. Pivot to a teammate that resists.
Pressure is the go-to ability for Ho-oh. It increases the PP cost of moves targetting the Pokémon by one. It's Ho-oh's only ability.
Base 90 Speed is workable. Faster than some, slower than many. On offense, Ho-oh is a mixed attacker with base 130 Attack and 110 Sp. Atk. Defensively? Tanky enough to absorb a few hits. Best used as a wall.
In Ruby & Sapphire, the best way to handle Ho-oh: Status moves (Toxic, Will-O-Wisp) wear it down. Setup sweepers can use it as a boost opportunity. Special attackers bypass its physical bulk.
Game Availability
First obtainable in Gold & Silver, Ho Oh has been featured in 17 titles across 9 generations. Legendary status means a single encounter per playthrough in most games.
Click a game to view version-specific details
- Gen 1RB
Red & Blue - Gen 1Y
Yellow - Gen 2GSDebut
Gold & Silver - Gen 2C
Crystal - Gen 3RS
Ruby & Sapphire - Gen 3E
Emerald - Gen 3FRLG
FireRed & LeafGreen - Gen 4DP
Diamond & Pearl - Gen 4Pt
Platinum - Gen 4HGSS
HeartGold & SoulSilver - Gen 5BW
Black & White - Gen 5B2W2
Black 2 & White 2 - Gen 6XY
X & Y - Gen 6ORAS
Omega Ruby & Alpha Sapphire - Gen 7SM
Sun & Moon - Gen 7USUM
Ultra Sun & Ultra Moon - Gen 7LGPE
Let's Go Pikachu & Eevee - Gen 8SwSh
Sword & Shield - Gen 8BDSP
Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl - Gen 8PLA
Legends: Arceus - Gen 9SV
Scarlet & Violet - Gen 9LZA
Legends: Z-A - Gen 10WW
Winds & Waves